Anyone wishing to do a spot of early Christmas shopping last weekend may have had trouble making a transaction with their credit card due to a technical cock-up at MasterCard.
A Reg reader contacted us on Saturday to say that the cash pumping giant had been hit by what appeared to be a sizeable technical problem affecting many …

Must have happened for longer...

... because was checking my HSBC statement online yesterday and payment for a train ticket at Gatwick Airport on one of their ticket machines was only debited yesterday... even though I bought a ticket on the 9th September.

Me too

Both my MasterCard and Maestra debit-card were declined on Saturday too. Just after my new credit-card failed to turn up and it was cancelled, making me suspicious of a banking cock-up. Makes me wonder whether I should get a VISA card with another bank.

abbey national

My experience of (NatWest) Mastercad

The bastards decided to "upgrade" my card. To one with the same credit limit, interest rate and no extra facilities, except it had the word "platinum" on the card and, of course, a new number. Naturally this screwed up lots of subscriptions and stored card details for companies I deal with, giving me nearly a years worth of emails and letters telling me my old card had been declined.

And did they ask me if I wanted all this hassle for the word "platinum" on my card? Well, they *claim* they sent me a letter, asking me if I wanted to change. Since I didn't receive the letter, and therefore couldn't tell them not to change it, that apparently gave them permission.

They had, of course cancelled the old card before they sent out the unsolicited one, so they insisted that it couldn't be re-enabled.

So, please excuse me while I have a quiet chuckle at their latest cock-up. Safe in the knowledge that I'll never use another Mastercard (or NatWest) again.

Saw it happen...

Spin Suspicion

"MasterCard can confirm that due to technical problems associated with issuing bank submitted data, some minor delays occurred in the settlement of Maestro debit card transactions in the UK on 25/26 September 2007."

What on earth does *that* mean?

I wonder if the dimwitted spinner who crafted that bit of vague prose realizes that everyone is wise to spin now. When they avoid specifics, wave their hands, and use too many words to say too little, the public reaction is "they're lying and/or hiding something seriously itllegal, unethical, immoral, or plain ol' stupid and/or irresponsible."

Moral: if you mess things up, say so and be at least a little specific about it. So you admit you made a mistake. So you get sued and your statement is introduced in evidence. So what? It's a lot cheaper to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth up front and take the consequences than pay legal fees trying to stave off the inevitable.

This particular bit of would-be spin suggests to me a major cock up in a software upgrade, thanks to senior management having decided (say) to outsource programming to Madagascar in the interests of cost savings. But since it's impossible for a company to admit its senior managers have made a mistake, we get vagueness and handwaving instead of solid information.

Not my bank then...

And there was me blaming RBS for failing to pay for my shopping on Sat afternoon, and then two separate attempts to take money out of a hole-in-the-wall on Sat night. Successfully got money on Sun morning though.

Re: Must have happened for longer...

@ Test Man:

"even though I bought a ticket on the 9th September."

That's probably just Gatwick Airport ticket machines. I once had a car park ticket debited by NCP from my account 5 months after I parked and paid at a machine. My bank said they have 180 days from time of taking payment details to actually submit the debit charge to the bank.

Title

Happened to me too on Saturday

When my Tesco's shopping due between 4pm and 6pm hadn't arrived by 6:30pm, I checked phone messages

Got a message around 3pm on Saturday saying thay my card had been declined and another an hour later saying they couldn't deliver my shopping unless I rang to provide details for another card. Didn't think there would be a problems as it's the same Natwest Maestro card I use every week and money in the account.

Rang Tesco's and they tried the card again - this was 3 hours plus after the first attempt. Failed authorisation, so I rang NatWest

NatWest confirmed there was a problem, so I rang Tesco's to arrange for redelivery on Sunday. Tesco's call centre weren't aware of any problems. No other cards and cash machines empty of money and no food in the house. I was not happy.

I later found a message on the Streamline website about the problem

Agree that 6% as quoted seems a little low, as speaking to someone who works for Wickes, he confirmed a lot of customers had problems on Saturday